Turrialba Coffee Crops Spared From Volcano
Eruption
Costa Rica's high-quality coffee crops
around the Turrialba volcano were spared
from damage this week when the long-dormant
volcano erupted for the first time in more
than 140 years, spewing ash and forcing
evacuations.
A handful of coffee plantations, including
one of the country's leading growers Cafe
Aquiares, are near the slopes of the
Turrialba volcano in central Costa Rica. But
most lie at least 20 kilometres away from
the affected area, the Instituto del
Café de Costa Rica (Icafé) said.
"The coffee growing area is a distance from
the volcano," Juan Jose Obando, co-ordinator
of the regional Turrialba office of the
institute known as Icafé, told Reuters. "At
this time we can say there are no problems,"
Obando said.
Farmers are still watching closely for the
3,340-meter volcano's next move. The last
time it erupted was in 1866.
The volcano awoke in May 2007 with increased
seismic and gaseous activity, according to
Maria Martinez, volcano expert at the
Observatorio Vulcanológico y Sismológico de
Costa Rica
(Ovsicori), the Costa Rican Volcanology and
Seismology Observatory.
During the mid-1990s as many as 1,700
growers produced coffee in Turrialba region,
but the number has fallen considerably,
Icafé said.
Many farmers abandoned their coffee crops at
the beginning of this decade when world
coffee prices collapsed because of
oversupply.
Costa Rica, known for its top quality beans,
sees exports reaching 1.46 million 60-kg
bags in 2009/10 harvest, up 10.6 per cent
from the previous cycle.
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